Anyone got any advice on what to pack for 11 nite mercury cruise on the mexican riviera ? We are sailing in the first part of March, but i'm not so concerned with what to pack , as to how much,,, shorts, tees etc ?

The weather will be cool from San Diego to Cabo out in the Pacific.
Once rounding Cabo the weather turns warm and possible temps in the 80's F. Same on the return.
The deeper you go into the Mex Riv the temps will be very warm. Dress casual with loose clothing.

Seems we always pack too much. I agree that it's difficult to pack judiciously with no laundry facilities onbaoard. Additionally, when you are sailing from a cooler climate to a warmer climate you tend to need more varied types of clothing, ie long slacks as well as shorts. We are doing a 14 day cruise RT from LA to Hawaii in early March. We'll be away from home 16 days in total, I sat down & made a list of outfits for each day, daytime, evening, formal nights, informal nights, shoes, socks .... it came to 175 items of clothing just for me. I'm in the process of trying to winnow that down to no more than 75 items. Actually, I'm thinking of renting a mule to schleep all the luggage.

Anyone got any advice on what to pack for 11 nite mercury cruise on the mexican riviera ? We are sailing in the first part of March, but i'm not so concerned with what to pack , as to how much,,, shorts, tees etc ?

I posted my packing list for a fourteen-night Celebrity cruise to a tropical destination and adapation therof for ladies in a recent thread (http://www.cruisemates.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=546737) on the "Cruise Dress and Packing" board. Since your cruise is only eleven nights and will have only three informal evenings, elimiate one informal outfit and three daytime outfits from that lists. I know that my post is fairly long, but the text also explains other considerations and adjustments to the list that you may wish to make to tailor it to your lifestyle.

The last few ships we have been on have had self serve laundries. what a blessing that is!

Which lines were they?

Celebrity's ships do not have self-service laundry facilities. Their omission, in favor of the ship's laundry service is part of catering to more "upscale" customers and, no doubt, greater on-board revenues.

Greater revenues is the key, all the Holland America ships have them until the "Vista class." But then until a short time ago, you could buy a bottle of booze in the duty free shops and consume it one board for a small extra on-board consumption fee. Then someone figured out that they could gouge you more if they stopped that practice. very short sighted of them in my opinion. I'd rather pay $100 more for the cruise and have the freedom to wash my own tee shirts and mix my own margaritas.

__________________
RichStacy
Landlocked in Denver, but cruisin every chance we get.

We're also doing the cruise from LA to Hawaii (soooo much better to spend the travel time on a spacious cruise ship than be stuck in an airline seat) but I'm also concerned about how much luggage we'll be bringing, although we live in Ca, so we can drive to the port, so not as much trouble dealing with it at the airport.

Also, we tried the self-serv laundry onboard once, and it was not a fun experience. EVERYONE tries to use it on sea days, and being stuck in a hot, humid room waiting for a machine made me feel like I wasn't on vacation! I'd rather pack too much then do that again...

We'll be leaving on the April 23rd cruise, perhaps you can email me your experience and any pointers when you return!

If you are tight on space or are near the airline weight requirement of 50 pounds remove anything that you think you MIGHT wear.

I usually have one pair of shorts and a t-shirt per day for day wear. For a cruise longer than seven days, pack for a seven day cruise and plan on doing laundry or having it done and re-wearing items.

Most items for formal evenings can be re-worn without being laundered unless they are soiled by food or perspiration. If so send them out and have them done by the ship's cleaning service. It's worth the fee.

Take care,
Mike

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The hawaii packing(14 nights) is driving me crazy-- My concessions so far are to wear an informal night outfit twice...& take 3 not 4 bathing suits...You can see why Sal 7202 has to pack VERY light... Hope to do better next yr for this itin to Mexico ! In then end it we will take what fits into the suitcases & be happy with it!

I finally gave up trying to conserve for our transatlantic. We were going to Europe in November with temps in the 50's to Ft. Lauderdale and then the 2 day cruise as well as spending some time in Ft Myers post cruise. I had to pack for spring like and summer weather as well as something warm for arriving back home in Chicago in December along with all our guidebooks which definitely add weight. We were to be gone over 3 weeks.
I finally came to the conclusion that one of our 4 suitcases would be overweight and we would have to pay the charge. The charge only turned out to be $25 on Delta. All that worrying for $25. Coming home, we paid for an extra bag (I carry a folded duffle with me - can't resist those outlet malls in Florida). It was definitely worth the peace of mind to pay a little more and know that I had everything that I wanted to bring and didn't have to make do.
The overweight or extra suitcase charge was very reasonable when you look at the overall price of the cruise.

Ok, We were on the 1/15 sailing LA to Hawaii RT and had to pay an overage fee for our big suitcase. Those big boxy suitcases are fine for putting in lots of clothes but now w/the airline wt limit of 50# we are seriously thinking pf dumping the big one and go w/4 medium ones.

I repacked for coming home and ended up w/the medium one weighing 49# and the big one 56#. I think we ended up not wearing 2 shirts (hubby) and 2 casual outfits(me). And he didn't even take a suit this time as he rented the tux. I think we are leaning towards Oceania next time to eliminate some of the formal clothes for a longer cruise.